In 1975 as Bob Dylan emerged from eight years of seclusion, he dreamed of putting together a traveling music show that would trek across the country like a psychedelic carnival. The dream became reality, and On the Road with Bob Dylan is the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at what happened when Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue took to the streets of America. With the intimate detail of a diary, Larry "Ratso" Sloman’s mesmerizing description of the legendary tour both transports listeners to a celebrated period in rock history and provides them with a vivid snapshot of Dylan during this extraordinary time.

Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan

For Bob Dylan's 70th birthday, a revised and updated new edition of Howard Sounes' classic biography of the legend. This new edition of Howard Sounes' definitive biography of Bob Dylan, first published to international critical acclaim in 2001, gives a complete picture of the man as well as of the artist and performer.

Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan

The second and concluding volume of Ian Bell's critically lauded study of the inimitable Bob Dylan. By the middle of the 1970s, Bob Dylan's position as the preeminent artist of his generation was assured. The 1975 album Blood on the Tracks seemed to prove, finally, that an uncertain age had found its poet. Perverse or driven, Dylan refused the role. By the decade's end, the counterculture's poster child had embraced conservative, evangelical Christianity. Fans and critics alike were confused; many were aghast. Still the hits kept coming.

Another Side of Bob Dylan: A Personal History on the Road and Off the Tracks

During the years they spent together, few people outside of Bob Dylan's immediate family were closer than Victor Maymudes, who was Dylan's tour manager, personal friend, and traveling companion from the 1960s through the late 1990s. Another Side of Bob Dylan recounts landmark events during that time, including Dylan's infamous motorcycle crash; his meeting the Beatles on their first U.S. tour; his marriage to Sara Lownds, as well as his romances with Joan Baez and others....

Bob Dylan in America

This book follows Dylan as he continues to develop a body of musical and literary work unique in our cultural history. Wilentz’s approach places Dylan’s music in the context of its time, including the early influences of Popular Front ideology and Beat aesthetics, and offers a larger critical appreciation of Dylan as both a song­writer and performer down to the present. Wilentz has had unprecedented access to studio tapes, recording notes, rare photographs, and other materials, all of which allow him to tell Dylan’s story.

Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words

When singer, musician, and broadcast journalist Malka Marom had the opportunity to interview Joni Mitchell in 1973, she was eager to reconnect with the performer that she'd first met late one night in 1966 at a Yorkville coffeehouse. More conversations followed over the next four decades of friendship, and it was only after Joni and Malka completed their last recorded interview, in 2012, that Malka discovered the heart of their discussions: the creative process.

So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead

No longer dismissed as relics of the hippie era, a new generation has lionized the Dead for creating a culture that paved the way for social networking, free music swapping, and the uncompromising anticorporate attitude of indie rock. Now, fifty years after the band first began changing rock 'n' roll both sonically and psychically, So Many Roads paints the most vivid portrait yet of the Grateful Dead, one of the most enduring institutions in American music and culture.

M. D. Minton says:""It's good to know, you've got shoes to wear when you find the floor, Why hold out for more...""

I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen

The legend behind such songs as "Suzanne," "Bird on the Wire," and "Hallelujah" and the poet and novelist behind such groundbreaking literary works as Beautiful Losers and Book of Mercy, Leonard Cohen is one of the most important and influential artists of our era, a man of powerful emotion and intelligence whose work has explored the definitive issues of human life - sex, religion, power, meaning, love. I'm Your Man is the definitive account of Cohen's extraordinary life.

Hotel California

The classic account of the LA Canyons scene between 1967 and 1976, featuring Joni Mitchell; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; The Eagles; James Taylor; and Jackson Browne. Ambition, betrayal, drugs and genius all combine with great music making.

Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits With the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Eric Clapton, the Faces…

Born just outside London in 1942, Glyn Johns was 16 years old at the dawn of rock and roll. His big break as a producer came on the Steve Miller Band's debut album, Children of the Future. He went on to engineer or produce iconic albums for the best in the business, including Abbey Road with the Beatles. Even more impressive, Johns was perhaps the only person on a given day in the studio who was entirely sober, and so he is one of the most reliable and clear-eyed insiders to tell these stories today.

Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life

From Graham Nash - the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies - comes a candid and riveting autobiography that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock fan.

Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.

If Howard Kaylan had sung only one song, the Turtles' 1967 No. 1 smash hit "Happy Together," his place in rock-and-roll history would still be secure. But that recording, named in 1999 by BMI as one of the top 50 songs of the 20th century, with over five million radio plays, is only the tip of a rather eye-opening iceberg. For nearly five decades, Howard Kaylan has been a player in the rock-and-roll revolution.

The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir

Dave Van Ronk was one of the founding figures of the 1960s folk revival, but he was far more than that. A pioneer of modern acoustic blues, a fine songwriter and arranger, a powerful singer, and one of the most influential guitarists of the ’60s, he was also a marvelous storyteller, a peerless musical historian, and one of the most quotable figures on the Village scene. The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a firsthand account by a major player in the social and musical history of the ’50s and ’60s.

Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography

In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock n' roll since his teens.

The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait

The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a vivid, full-bodied portrait of one of the most influential artists of the 20th-century - a man widely regarded as the most important lyricist America has ever produced. Acclaimed poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein frames Dylan against the backdrop of four seminal concerts - all of which he attended. Beautifully written, The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a unique, eye-opening portrait of an artist who has transformed generations and continues to inspire and surprise today.

Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years

Tune In is the first volume of All These Years - a highly-anticipated, groundbreaking biographical trilogy by the world's leading Beatles historian. Mark Lewisohn uses his unprecedented archival access and hundreds of new interviews to construct the full story of the lives and work of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion

The story of Stax Records unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A white brother and sister build a record company that becomes a monument to racial harmony in 1960’s segregated south Memphis. Their success is startling, and Stax soon defines an international sound. Then, after losses both business and personal, the siblings part, and the brother allies with a visionary African-American partner. Under integrated leadership, Stax explodes as a national player until, Icarus-like, they fall from great heights to a tragic demise.

Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter

Paul McCartney and John Lennon described him as the Beatles' "favorite group," he won Grammy awards, wrote and recorded hit songs, and yet no figure in popular music is as much of a paradox, or as underrated, as Harry Nilsson. In this first ever full-length biography, Alyn Shipton traces Nilsson's life from his Brooklyn childhood to his Los Angeles adolescence and his gradual emergence as a uniquely talented singer-songwriter.

Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (33 1/3 Series)

Between the fitfully brilliant Bringing It All Back Home and the sprawling masterwork that is Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited stands as the defining moment in both Dylan's career and the musical evolution of the mid 1960's. But beyond its place in history, Highway 61 works because of its enduring emotional appeal. Few songwriters before Dylan or since have combined so effectively the intensely personal with the spectacularly universal.

Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley

This concluding volume recounts the second half of Elvis' life in rich and previously unimagined detail, and confirms Guralnick's status as one of the great biographers of our time. Beginning with Presley's army service in Germany in 1958 and ending with his death in Memphis in 1977, Careless Love chronicles the unraveling of the dream that once shone so brightly, homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis' relationship with his Machiavellian manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Live at the Fillmore East and West: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock's Greatest Legends

John Glatt tells the story of the Fillmores through the lives of Bill Graham, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Carlos Santana, and an all-star supporting cast. Chronicling the East and West Coast cultures of the late 1960s and early 1970s-New York City with its speed, heroin, and the Velvet Underground versus San Francisco with the LSD-drenched Summer of Love - Glatt reveals how Graham made it all possible. But why did Graham shutter both Fillmores within weeks of each other in 1971, during the height of their popularity?

Hollywood

Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski, returns, revelling in his eternal penchant for booze, women, and horse-racing as he makes the precarious journey from poet to screenwriter. Based on Bukowski's experiences when working on the film Barfly, the absurdity and egotism of the film industry are laid bare in this deadpan, touching, and funny glimpse into the endless negotiations and back-stabbings of la-la land. Hollywood is an irreverent jaunt that serves up the beating heart of Hollywood with razor-sharp humour.

Easy Rider, Raging Bulls follows the wild ride that was Hollywood in the 70s - an unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll (both on screen and off) and a climate where innovation and experimentation reigned supreme.

Publisher's Summary

In 1975 as Bob Dylan emerged from eight years of seclusion, he dreamed of putting together a traveling music show that would trek across the country like a psychedelic carnival. The dream became reality, and On the Road with Bob Dylan is the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at what happened when Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue took to the streets of America.

With the intimate detail of a diary, Larry "Ratso" Sloman’s mesmerizing description of the legendary tour both transports listeners to a celebrated period in rock history and provides them with a vivid snapshot of Dylan during this extraordinary time. This reissue of the 1978 classic resonates more than ever as it chronicles one of the most glittering rock circuses ever assembled, with a cast that includes Joan Baez, Robbie Robertson, Joni Mitchell, Allen Ginsberg, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and a wild entourage of groupies, misfits, sinners, and saints who trailed along for the ride. Sloman candidly captures the all-night revelry and musical prowess - from the backstage antics to impromptu jams - that made the tour a nearly mystical experience.

Complete with an introduction by renowned Texas musician, mystery writer, and Revue member Kinky Friedman, this is an unparalleled treat for Dylan fans old and new. Without question, On the Road with Bob Dylan is a remarkable, revealing piece of writing and a rare up-close and personal view of Dylan on tour.

I would highly recommend this audiobook, with several caveats -- not so much caveats, more like, if you can expect a few of these strange attributes in advance, you stand a better chance of falling on the love-it side of this love-it or hate-it book.

1. First of all, not to excuse Larry for his extremely politically incorrect language, but this book was written before the term "politically correct" was even coined, before that concept entered public discourse. So expect some extreme language, shrug it off as anachronistic, and move on to the good stuff.

2. This book was written during the era of gonzo journalism -- Fear and Loathing, Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and such. A huge portion of it is devoted to Larry's attempts to get the kind of access he needed to write the book -- post-modern before post-modernism was a common term, meta-journalism where the process is part of the story. And Larry takes it to the extreme, to the point where you wonder whether he's actually making it up for comic effect. Especially once he starts to refer to himself exclusively in the third person as Ratso, after Joan Baez christens him with his nickname and Roger McGuiin ensures that it will endure. If you take it seriously, it could be a huge turn-off. If you laugh at and along with Ratso, as he certainly intended, you will enjoy it.

3. You will see some of your musical icons portrayed not as musical icons, but as ordinary humans, warts and all. Whiners, neurotics, insecure paranoiacs, turf warriors, gossipers, backbiters, etc. Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, and of course Dylan -- there is the positive side to their characters that shines through, but the negative aspects are the ones that could turn you off if you don't want to hear it. Especially Joni Mitchell, who comes off as so consistently and endearingly nutty that you wonder if this is real or imagined, except that Larry and Kinky both make a point of insisting that it was all taped. Anyway, be warned -- they're only human, warts and all, and you will never get this kind of look at their private side anywhere else.

What was one of the most memorable moments of On the Road with Bob Dylan?

I know Larry from the Rangers' press room, where we worked together for several years. So far from being turned off by his personal side of the story like some other readers, I actually enjoyed it. But that is clearly a highly subjective experience for me, because I already knew what kind of quirky personality I would encounter. Other readers will probably have to work through that side of the story to get the part that most interests them -- but I enjoyed it.

The interesting part of the story for a general audience is the deeply inside look at these people off the stage, when they're not working, not being creative, not performing. I have read a number of inside baseball books about musicians of the era -- The Wrecking Crew and Fire & Rain most recently, in audio format -- but I have never read anything that shows the true personalities of these artists when they're just hanging out, being ordinary people.

Then there are Larry's set pieces. When he pitches the concept of the book to Dylan a couple of hours in, he outlines his goal of combining a personal diary, man on the street stories and interviews, and sit-down interviews with the artists. These pieces are at times eye-popping -- Joni Mitchell arguing against gender roles in the iconography of pop music, Mike Bloomfield recounting Dylan's first electric concert at Newport, Roger McGuinn lamenting his declining fortunes since the break-up of the Byrds, Robbie Robertson dissecting specific songs and albums and tours, and many others -- Dylan's wife and mother, the filmmakers shooting the movie Renaldo and Clara during the tour, Rubin Carter, etc.

What does Ramiz Monsef bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Don't judge a voice by its name. Who would have thought that someone named Ramiz Monsef can sound so much like a native New Yorker? I actually know what Larry sounds like, and I can't tell the difference between the real thing and this performance. And it's not just Larry, although his voice carries the bulk of the narrative -- he also nails Kinky, Joni, Cohen, Rubin Carter, and of course the instantly recognizable voice of Bob Dylan. Standing ovation from me -- you could not have heard these voices in your head if you read the print edition.

Any additional comments?

I laughed a lot listening to this book. Got a lot of strange looks on the subway and on the streets. Seriously, if you can get past some of the things that have rubbed some readers the wrong way -- as I detailed up top -- and see the incredible humor in this tale, it will crack you up.

I'm not even a big Dylan fan. I'm a medium fan -- I like a lot of his work, especially from the 60s and 70s, but am not a devoted acolyte like Larry, and another friend also named Larry. I actually have more affection for Dylan after listening to this book, since he comes off as so much more human than I've ever seen him anywhere else. Not to beat a dead horse, but if you can get past the potential "hate-it" qualities of this unconventional book, there is much to love, including the off-stage personality of its primary subject, Bob Dylan.

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